Aura and Lightning
by Sara Jaye
Summary: Tyzula Week 2009 drabbles, unconnected and unrelated.
1. The Ache of Victory

_Day 1: Touch._

*

Victory often came at a price, and the invasion was no exception.

When Sokka grabbed her and shoved her up against the wall, she'd smirked and taunted him like it was nothing. Oh, she'd had so much fun watching his face contort with anger, watching the Avatar and the little blind girl try to run circles around her. And the looks on their faces when they'd realized she'd ruined everything, she'd cherish that for months.

But now that the rush had worn off all she could think about was how hard that wall had been. Azula groaned as she peeled her tunic off, craning her neck to examine her back in the mirror. _Ugh, I'm going to have such a bruise tomorrow thanks to that stupid peasant. Maybe it was a bad idea mentioning his little girlfriend..._

"Azula?"

"I was wondering when you'd be back." Azula turned around, Ty Lee stood in the doorway holding a tray of food and two cups of tea. "I take it you heard the good news? We managed to drive those pests off despite our little disadvantage," she said, wincing as she sat down on her bed. Ty Lee frowned.

"You got hurt, didn't you? You were just walking a little funny there, and your face..."

"Oh, one of them had me pressed up against the wall. It's no big deal," Azula said, but her face must have given her away; Ty Lee put down the tray and sat down at the foot of the bed. She brushed her fingers over Azula's back, her frown deepening when she saw Azula wince again.

"Whoever it was really did a number on you."

"Tell me something I _don't_ know," Azula snapped.

"Lie down," Ty Lee instructed. Azula raised an eyebrow.

"Since when did you tell _me_ what to do?"

"Since you're hurt," Ty Lee said simply. "So lie down and let me take care of you, okay?"

Azula sighed, doing as she was told. _I just don't have the energy to fight her on this,_ she told herself. But the first touch of the acrobat's hands on her aching back quickly snuffed out any protests she might have had.


	2. Free Time

_Day 2: Flexible_

*

It was good to be Queen, Azula thought. Ba Sing Se was theirs, its citizens were her loyal servants, and best of all that pesky Avatar was out of her way for good. Even when they returned to the Fire Nation the knowledge that the city was still hers was indeed a precious thing.

She didn't even mind the staggering amount of paperwork and meetings involved. Sure, she could just as easily leave it to her Dai Li agents or Zuko, but why risk them messing it up somehow? She was good at hard work, she'd always been her father's go-to girl for this sort of thing. So if she had to spend her remaining days in Ba Sing Se working, it was just fine.

At least she thought so. Ty Lee, on the other hand, was of an entirely different opinion.

"You should really give that a rest," she said one morning as she bounded into Azula's room. She wore her usual pink clothing and carried a shopping basket. "Come, let's go to the markets and shops in the upper ring!"

"I have to finish reading these law documents," Azula said, "and then I have two meetings this afternoon."

"We'll be back in plenty of time!" Ty Lee said. "Really, Azula, you should consider a more flexible schedule."

"Don't you realize how much work has to be done before we can leave?" Azula sighed. "I still haven't figured out who to entrust the city's care to once I'm gone!"

"But we'll only be here another two weeks," Ty Lee argued, "don't you want a chance to enjoy the city? This is exactly what you need right now!"

"It's _because_ we only have two weeks left that I can't afford any flexibility in my schedule," Azula countered.

"You're getting totally stressed out, though! Look, you've got bags under your eyes and you look so tired, and-"

"I am _not_ stressed out!" Azula snapped. "What do you expect me to do, leave it all in the hands of my brother? Or Mai? He's too busy moping about Uncle Fatso and she doesn't care! Now get out before I have you thrown out!" She turned on her heel and was about to go to her desk when she heard a sniffle._ No. I'm not going to fall for it. This is why I'm not a man, I'm not stupid enough to let a woman's tears sway me._

But she turned around anyway and instantly regretted it. Ty Lee looked like a kicked puppykitten, and Azula felt like kicking _herself._

Would the world really come to an end if she skipped one day of work?

"Then again," she sighed, "perhaps I can rearrange my schedule just a bit." A pause. "So...could you stop crying, now? Please? It's...it's really hard for me to watch."

Almost immediately, Ty Lee brightened and flung her arms around Azula.

"Awww, I knew I'd get you! Now come on, let's find someone to fill in for you and then we'll spend the whole day together, it's gonna be great!"

As they headed into the city, Azula decided maybe this _was_ what she needed after all.


	3. Visitor

_Day 3: Healing_

*

The day the Avatar and his friends met at the Jasmine Dragon, they invited Ty Lee to come with them. But as much as it pained her to say no (she _had_ been wanting to get to know them for a while, after all), she had other business to attend to.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Lady Ty Lee," a physician named Shang said. "According to the Princess's ramblings, you're one of the two who drove her to such a state." Ty Lee swallowed, feeling ashamed. Even though she could never regret doing what she'd done to save Mai, it pained her to know she'd hurt the girl she loved so deeply.

"I'll understand if she doesn't want to see me," she said. "But I just...can I at least look at her, just for a moment? I'm afraid she might...well, I've heard that people who end up here often..."

"We've taken every precaution to see that she doesn't," Shang reassured her, then his face became very serious. "Are you sure you want to see her? Knowing how much you care for her, it may upset you."

"I'm prepared for that." Ty Lee swallowed again, then took a deep breath. "Take me to her," she said. The doctor nodded.

"Follow me."

They reached the end of the corridor where Azula's room lay, and the moment Shang pulled the curtain back Ty Lee felt her heart squeeze in her chest, like it was going to break into a thousand pieces.

"...Azula."

The princess sat completely still, staring at the wall and breathing heavily. Her once-brilliant golden eyes were dull now, almost lifeless if not for the crazed glint in her stare, and the hospital shift she wore made her look as pale as a ghost.

"Doctor," Ty Lee said quieltly, "is...will she be like this forever? Is there any hope she'll recover at all...?"

"There is a chance," Shang said, "but she's a very damaged person, more so than anyone would ever imagine for a Fire Nation Princess. It could take months, even years for her to even begin to heal."

Ty Lee cast one last glance at her fallen Princess, the girl she loved, then closed her eyes.

"I want to help you," she whispered. "I want to help you make Azula well again. I'll do whatever it takes, for however long I need to." Shang's eyes widened.

"...you really do care about her, don't you? Even after what happened?"

"Yes." Ty Lee nodded, a few tears running down her cheeks.

"Very well." Shang smiled. "I think this will help speed her recovery just a bit just to know this."


	4. To Burn

_Day 4: Playing with Fire_

*

Sometimes, when she felt like it, Azula could be almost gentle.

Every night it started the same way. A look across the room, smouldering golden eyes meeting eager gray. A forceful kiss, clothes falling every which way, Azula pinning Ty Lee to the bed under her.

And of course, the fire. Oh, how Azula loved her fire. Not only did she always light a circle of candles around the bed, but oftentimes the touch of her fingertips would_ literally_ burn. Ty Lee's clothes hid the burn marks on her thighs, hips and breasts, but she and Azula both knew they were there.

It was ironic. Ty Lee could weaken the strongest of men with a simple poke, but all it took was one look from Azula and she was putty.

And that was just how she liked it.


	5. Sneaking Around

_Day 5: Forbidden_

*

They knew it was wrong. They knew if anyone saw them there would be hell to pay, and they'd be marked as "bad girls", little sneaks with no respect for the rules.

"Maybe...maybe we shouldn't be doing this, Azula, I'm getting scared," Ty Lee whispered, but Azula silenced her with a glare.

"Don't be stupid! We've come this far, there's no sense in turning back now," she hissed. The other girl nodded, clutching Azula's hand more tightly, and the Princess smiled. She was a little nervous herself, but the excitement was greater than the fear.

And then, there it was. Azula wiped her sweat from the key, jammed it into the lock and the doors swung open. Ty Lee gasped, her eyes shining with enthrallment.

"Wow, Azula, you were right! Your father's private library is bigger than anything," she gushed.

"And someday it'll all be mine." Azula gave her a knowing look and dragged her inside. Father wouldn't be back from his war meeting until late that night, and he would probably go to bed right away. _Maybe, just maybe we could get away with having a sleepover in here..._

Once they found a book they both wanted to read, they snuggled together on one of the couches and pretended this was _their_ library.


	6. The Family Way

_****__The following involves anatomical impossibility, so if that kind of thing offends your sensibilities, you may wanna turn back._

_Day 6: Cat & Mouse  
_

*

Azula stifled a yawn as she dragged her feet to her and Ty Lee's chambers. On days like today, she was actually _glad_ Zuko had taken her place as Fire Lord, having to make all the hard decisions and put up with meddling advisors. _Poor Zuzu_, she thought, chuckling to herself. He was still in the meeting room and probably wouldn't get to sleep till past midnight.

Sleep did sound good right about now, Azula thought, but the moment she pushed the doors open the exhaustion was quickly replaced with shock.

"Just what do you think you're _doing_?"

Ty Lee, six months pregnant, stood on her tiptoes on a high footstool reaching for something atop a shelf. When she saw her wife standing in the doorway, she laughed sheepishly and stepped down.

"Azula, I didn't expect you back so soon!"

"My brother let me go early," Azula said. "Ty Lee, have you lost your mind? You know your balance isn't like it normally is, you could've fallen and hurt yourself and our daughter!"

"Oh, you're so thoughtful!" Ty Lee giggled. "But I'm cold and I just wanted to get that blanket, it wasn't _that_ high up." Azula rolled her eyes, climbing up to get the blanket herself.

"When you're carrying _my_ child, more than a foot off the ground is too high up," she said, leading Ty Lee over to the bed and easing her back against the pillows. "Shouldn't you be asleep anyway? You know at this stage you need plenty of rest." She sat down at the foot of the bed, laying Ty Lee's legs across her lap and draping the blanket over her shoulders.

"I still can't believe how sweet you've been these last six months," Ty Lee said. "I think some of your brother rubbed off on you, remember how he was when Mai was pregnant with Rozin?"

"It must run in the family," Azula laughed. "Uncle says my father was absolutely wonderful to my mother when she was pregnant with Zuko and I."

"Well, I think it's-_ooh!_ She's kicking, Azula, she's kicking again!" Ty Lee squealed. Azula smiled, laid a hand over Ty Lee's swollen belly...and felt nothing.

"This is the fourth time this has happened this week, you know," she grumbled, pulling her hand away. "Every time she moves and I go to feel it, she goes back to sleep." She frowned. "Ty Lee...you don't think she's _afraid_ of me, do you?"

"Of _course not_," her wife said reassuringly. "She knows how much her other mommy loves her!"

Azula grinned.

"So she's just playing a little game of cat and mouse with me, then?" She placed her hand on Ty Lee's belly again. "I can wait all night," she declared, and Ty Lee giggled.

"Oh, Azula..."

"I mean it. I'm not the least bit tired, I can-" And then she felt the soft thump against her hand. "Well!"

Ty Lee smiled, placing her hand atop Azula's.

"Guess she got tired of hiding."

*

_And there you have it, this may be THE strangest thing I ever wrote! Before you get ready to explode at me all like OMG PREGNANCY DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY DIDN'T YOU PAY ATTENTION IN SEX ED AND BIOLOGY?!?!, yes, I did. Lots of attention, in fact, and I've looked this stuff up on websites in the past. I'm quite well aware of how human bodies work and don't work, and if this were a longer, more involved story I'd have come up with a proper explanation for the magic pregnancy. But I wanted to write something cracky and nonsensical. I'm allowed once in a while. I blame /a/ for putting the idea in my head anyway.  
_

_And yes, I named Maikospawn Rozin. :P It's symbolic, dammit._


	7. By The Pond

_Day 7: Night_

*

It was the dead of night, but Ty Lee couldn't sleep.

Even though Azula had been decidedly sane for three years, no one knew if it would last after the death of her father. None of their friends and family said it out loud, but Ty Lee knew they were thinking it.

The whispers of the servant girls didn't help, either. _Poor Princess, so attatched to that man even after he caused her to collapse back then_, they'd say, sighing and _tsk_ing with manufactured sympathy that could make a person's blood boil in anger. Maybe Ozai hadn't been a good person, but was it such a crime that a young woman loved her father?

Ty Lee slipped out of bed and walked out to the courtyard. Azula sat by the pond as she had every night since the funeral, tossing pebbles into the water and staring up at the night sky. Tonight was darker than usual, a new moon and not a single star, and Ty Lee shivered as the cold air nipped at her through the fabric of her robe.

"Azula?"

The Princess glanced over her shoulder, briefly, then turned around and stared into the water. Ty Lee knelt down beside her and smoothed a few strands of hair back from her face. When Azula turned to look at her again, her cheeks were shiny with tears.

"I..." Ty Lee bit her lip. Even the most comforting thing she could think of to say didn't seem like enough. She felt useless; the woman she loved was in pain and there were no words she could say to ease the sting even a little.

Finally, she simply wrapped her arms around Azula and held her tightly; almost immediately she felt a tug on her robe and wetness against her shoulder.

"Thank you," Azula mumbled when her tears were finally spent. Ty Lee silently helped her stand and led her inside.


End file.
